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null Three RI-MUHC research projects funded in special CIHR calls

Projects will mitigate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, youth and families and promote vaccine confidence

RI-MUHC researchers Inés Colmegna, Cecilia Costiniuk, Alexandra de Pokomandy and Nadine Kronfli (L to R)
RI-MUHC researchers Inés Colmegna, Cecilia Costiniuk, Alexandra de Pokomandy and Nadine Kronfli (L to R)

Source: CIHR and McGill University. On December 9, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced an investment of $13.7 million by the Government of Canada in 89 new COVID-19 research projects across the country. This includes seven projects led by McGill researchers, including three based at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC).

The projects will explore a range of topics, with the common aim of understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, youth, and families. Some projects are focused on promoting vaccine confidence and encouraging vaccination, particularly among groups with low vaccination rates. Others explore how to reduce the threats to mental and physical health posed by the pandemic. Results from all the projects will help inform governments, communities, and health care providers in their continued efforts to manage the pandemic.

The Government of Canada is providing the funding for the research through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This new investment builds on the nearly $300 million that CIHR has invested in COVID-19 research since March 2020.

The three RI-MUHC-based studies, led by scientists from the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, will explore the topic of vaccine confidence in specific contexts and communities. Dr. Inés Colmegna and Dr. Cecilia Costiniuk will work with Canadians living with HIV and inflammatory diseases, among the people most vulnerable to serious COVID-19 disease, to understand the reasons for vaccine hesitancy and to enhance vaccine confidence. Dr. Nadine Kronfli will investigate strategies to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among hesitant Canadian incarcerated people. Dr. Alexandra de Pokomandy will seek to identify what can be done in primary care settings to help patients increase trust in COVID-19 vaccine, and work with them to increase that trust.

  • Project title: COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Among At-Risk and Under-Vaccinated Groups Within HIV and Rheumatic diseases (CONFIDENCE)
    Principal Investigators: Inés Colmegna and Cecilia Costiniuk, associate professors, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McGill University, and scientists, RI‑MUHC
    CIHR funding: $192,320
  • Project title: Measuring vaccine hesitancy and examining reasons behind vaccination choices for the COVID-19 vaccines in patients followed in primary care clinics
    Principal Investigator: Alexandra de Pokomandy, associate professor, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McGill University, and scientist, RI-MUHC
    CIHR funding: $199,900
  • Project title: A tailored EDUcational intervention to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among hesitant Canadian incarcerATEd people (EDUCATE study)
    Principal Investigator: Nadine Kronfli, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McGill University, and junior scientist, RI-MUHC
    CIHR funding: $103,322

Read the CIHR press release
Learn more about the McGill projects funded (McGill Reporter)

Jan. 4, 2022